By Michael Arrieta-Walden
The Oregonian
Published on June 26, 2004
Excerpt:
I frankly think The Oregonian should stop publishing her name, especially after talking Friday with Kelly McBride, an ethicist with the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists in St. Petersburg, Fla.
When hearing that the newspaper’s library shows the newspaper had not mentioned Smith’s name since February, McBride argued withholding her name would have been an especially viable option for the Thursday story. The newspaper simply could have referred to her as a teenager who disappeared with her softball coach. Readers likely had not forgotten about the story, but she suspects most at that point would have forgotten her name.
McBride says the newspaper should examine the journalistic purpose of its coverage. The purpose should be to monitor how the system deals with Garver and to explore whether reforms can be made to systems to prevent this from occurring again, especially to a girl who has been sexually abused. While Casey and other editors generally agree with that perspective, McBride says that none of that is contingent on reporting her name.
“The focus of that story needs to shift away from her, no matter what, because of the potential harm she could suffer as a sex-abuse victim,” McBride says. “And that’s hard because it’s fascinating. There’s a fascination with her and her story, but if you look at the journalistic purpose, there’s not much, other than prurient interest.
“There’s nothing you can do about her name being part of the public record,” McBride says. “But you can stop making it part of the public consciousness, and you can stop doing that today.”
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